Steven Blomquist, the Tortolitas foothills resident consumed by
a battle with the Town of Marana and Saguaro Ranch developer
Stephen Phinny over an abandoned easement, purchased 22 TV spots
for some $3,000 on a Tucson television station last week to make
his case.

"That's how passionately we feel we've been wronged by this
government," said Blomquist, who has a pending Marana criminal
complaint against him for trespassing and disorderly conduct, and
who has filed a civil suit with his wife Sharyl Cummings over
Marana's abandonment of an easement into the Tortolitas.

Blomquist purchased the ads on KGUN-TV, a station he does not
receive at his home.

"It's a direct consequence of your wrongful actions," Blomquist
told the Marana Town council last Tuesday, when he addressed the
governing board for the second time in the last six weeks.

Blomquist offered to show the commercial to council. Before the
meeting, he'd been told he would not be able to do so, but he asked
again during the session. "Someone help me," Blomquist said.

"I don't think so," Mayor Ed Honea responded. In its draft
minutes, the council called the request "inappropriate to the call
to the public." Each speaker is given up to three minutes to
address the town council, and Honea told Blomquist "you've got one
minute."

In his prepared remarks, Blomquist said he lives outside the
town limits, in "a community that existed long before Marana showed
up; in an area Marana specifically excluded from annexation.

"You came to our community, you are affecting our lives, and you
have a responsibility to consider us, annexed or not," he said.

Blomquist criticized council members Jon Post, Patti Comerford,
Herb Kai and Carol McGorray for their Feb. 3, 2009 vote to abandon
the public easement. "With that vote, not one of you showed any
courage, honesty or integrity," Blomquist said.

He has since been arrested four times for trespassing on the
easement. Three of those charges were dismissed by an Oro Valley
magistrate. The current charge, stemming from a Nov. 13 arrest at
McClintock's restaurant in Saguaro Ranch, is being transferred to a
Pima County court by the Town of Marana.

"Did you honestly think we would just go away when you refused
to protect our rights?" Blomquist said. "Did you honestly think
throwing me in jail would stop us from wanting to protect the
public's access rights in the Tortolita Mountain community that's
existed for generations? If that's true, then you no longer deserve
the respect that accompanies your elected office. Is no one among
you willing to represent right and wrong?

"It's too late for you to undo your wrongful actions," Blomquist
said. "But it's not too late for you to admit your mistakes and to
try to make amends for what this government has allowed to happen.
That takes real leadership, it takes a big person. Characteristics
this governing body has not exhibited."

Blomquist said he has "no issues" with members of the Marana
Police Department, who arrested him. He does name police officers
in his civil claim. "I have always been treated respectfully by
you, and I have responded in kind. For all of Marana's faults the
men and women on the street with Marana PD rank with the best, when
they follow the law and not unlawful order."

In the municipal complex lobby after the meeting, Blomquist
offered to show the commercial on a laptop computer.

Councilman Post took Blomquist up on the offer. The commercial
was difficult to see and hear, but it has footage of Blomquist in
the Tortolitas, holding a sign protesting the abandonment, being
arrested at McClintock's, and having an argument at a council
meeting with Councilwoman Roxanne Ziegler.

Post watched the commercial and extended his hand. "I respect
you for standing up for what you believe in," Post said.